THE PINE-MARTEN. 151 



a stream, as does a cat, while the trout are 

 running. 



Berries the marten eats readily, but probably 

 more by way of medicine than as a staple article 

 of diet ; and, so far as I know, this is the only 

 exception to an otherwise strictly carnivorous fare. 

 If facts were obtainable, I believe we should find 

 that all our four-footed, warm-blooded carnivores 

 eat berries to a greater or less degree. From the 

 evidence afforded by the captive (beech) marten 

 in France, I should say that the marten, in spite 

 of its squirrel-like form, strictly eschews anything 

 in the way of nuts. 



MATING. 



During my early studies of this animal I was 

 of the opinion that at any rate it observed the laws 

 of propriety and decency so far as its marriage 

 customs were concerned that, indeed, the marten 

 was strictly monogamous, and that both parents 

 shared in the upbringing of their young. The 

 occasional newspaper reports that ' two martens 

 were shot at So-and-so' were probably respon- 

 sible for this belief, together with the fact that I 

 had often heard Highland keepers state that, one 

 marten having been shot, it was usual to find 

 ' the other ' somewhere near. Unless, however, 

 the British marten differs widely from its Canadian 

 cousin in this one respect, and unless the habits of 

 caged martens serve as no criterion for the customs 

 of free specimens, the marten is totally despicable 

 in its mating habits. In this respect, if in this 

 respect only, its habits indicate a lower standard 

 of sexual morality than that of the common stoat ; 

 for in the wild the attainment of a higher standard 

 usually begins with the observance of marriage- 



